Pandemic leaves American Samoa residents stranded, homesick

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AP) — Makerita Iosefo Vaʻa hasn’t been home for nearly eight months — the longest she’s ever been away from American Samoa. She longs for the breezes that cool island humidity and the ocean sounds and smells that permeate her home in the village of Tula. She also misses the food that’s impossible to recreate in Tracy, California, where the coronavirus pandemic has left her and her husband stranded. “Every time I talk…